Chapter Fifty

Harry looked up at the sky—it was a beautiful blue color, with white clouds snaking through it every once in a while. He knew this was only a dream, that it wasn't real, but he didn't care. He'd been having these dreams often, but then they'd abruptly stopped, and he always knew what came next. Something that he was very much looking forward to.

Then Harry saw a balancing beam. They were usually in his dreams, too. He rushed forward, towards the balancing beam, and once he approached it he got up on it and stood, trying to make it to the other end without falling off.

"One," Harry muttered to himself as he took a step forward. "Two." Another one. "Three." One more. "Four…" That's when his whole body started to wobble, and Harry put his arms out, trying to steady himself. He would make it to the other end without falling. That was his goal.

"Careful, son," a voice chuckled from beside him, and strong hands held onto Harry's waist, steadying him.

Harry looked down, smiling. Just what he was waiting for. "Dad!" he squealed, trying to squirm from his fathers hands to envelope him in a hug, but his father wouldn't let go.

"You wanted to make it to the other end, didn't you, Harry? Come on, I'll help you."

"It's been a long time since I saw you," Harry said, keeping his arms out, keeping his eyes fixed on his feet which were slowly moving forward, while the strong hands held onto his waist. "I missed you."

Once Harry reached the other end, he jumped off the balancing beam and wrapped his arm around James' waist, hugging the man tightly.

"Ah, I missed you too, son," James said, ruffling Harry's hair. Harry grabbed onto James' hand, guiding him towards the bench by the swing set. "How've you been?"

"Kinda good," Harry replied. "Except for Aureus… but other than that, everything's really good. How are you doing, Dad? How's Mum?"

"Your mother's fine," James replied, putting an arm around Harry's shoulder. "She wishes she could see you, though. Told me to give you her love."

"Why doesn't she come with you?" Harry asked, looking up at James with a frown. "I mean… you're here."

"Maybe another time," James said, grinning. "Right now it's just you and me, kid."

Harry looked down at the cement ground. "I have to wake up soon, I can feel it. Will you and Mum visit me next time?"

"Count on it," James said with another grin.

"Why are you here?" Harry blurted. "Shouldn't you be… somewhere else?"

"Just checking up on you," James replied. "Making sure you get into lots of trouble."

"Mmm," Harry smiled, looking up at his father. "Thanks, Dad…"

-

Harry's eyes fluttered open. "Thanks, Dad…"

"Harry!" Nathaniel's voice cut through Harry's thoughts. He shook the boy, but to no avail did Harry get up. "Come on, Snape got that House Elf to come wake you up for breakfast but you wouldn't wake up… so now they're counting on me!"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and turned on his side. He wanted to go back to that dream, with his father. Why did Nathaniel have to wake him up in the middle of it?

"Ugh." Harry groaned, sitting up. "I was having a really nice dream," Harry said irritably. "Why did you have to wake me up? My Dad was there, Nathaniel! My dad!"

"Well I'm sorry to wake you up from your treasured family reunion," Nathaniel said, annoyed. "But Snape is waiting downstairs for you. Quite a day planned out, you know. Well, not 'quite a day', but you are going to be taking a look around the neighbourhood. Nathaniel might even come with you—Yes, you heard me: Nathaniel, not Slyther."

Nathaniel smiled triumphantly. "So, let's go! Come on… up you get."

Harry groaned, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. "Fine, you win. Hey… Nathaniel… where's Ember?"

Nathaniel's face hardened, and his eyes grew cool. "Why do you want to know? The bloody bird is probably trying to bite somebody else."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "Bite?"

"Yeah," Nathaniel said, throwing various clothes onto Harry's bed from his closet. "I remember now. That 'encounter'? My mother. Told the bloody bird if I didn't write back to her, for it to keep nipping me. It did that, all right. Had bruises all over myself for days! See, I think we had this argument before my fifth year at Hogwarts. Never spoke to her again…"

Harry stared at Nathaniel. "You mean you haven't talked to your mother since before your fifth year? Wow… What happened?"

Nathaniel sat on Harry's bed looking thoughtful. "It was the summer before my fifth year. Then during the middle of Hogwarts I got a letter from her, she really wanted me to write back, you see. I didn't, so the bird kept nipping me. Finally I got fed up and wrote 'Go Away' on parchment so the bird would stop it, and… I just got a real disliking for owls."

Harry sat down beside Nathaniel. "Why didn't you ever visit your mother? What about the summer before your sixth year, weren't you home then?"

"I went to my friends house that summer. Ah… what was his name? Christopher Something. Then, well, in my sixth year I turned into a snake and never turned back, so that's why I've never seen my parents for that long."

There was silence between the two before Nathaniel jumped up, putting on a brighter mood. "Well, come on. Snape's probably as annoyed as it is that I don't have you down yet. So hurry up and get dressed."

-

"What are we going to do today?" Harry asked Snape as the sat in the dining room. A chandelier was hung on the ceiling, hanging in the middle of the table. Harry sat at one end of the table eating his breakfast, Snape in front of him. Slyther was placed on the floor by Harry's chair, digging into a piece of fish hungrily.

"I thought you'd like to meet your neighbours," Snape replied, muttering a 'as annoying as they are' under his breath.

"All right," Harry agreed. "Are they nice?"

"They have a tendency to talk and talk," Snape explained. "They're always so chipper. They do have a son a year younger than you, I think. Alexander Jackson. They have a daughter too, though I'm not sure of her name."

"I think I'd like to meet them," Harry said happily, glad that there was somebody (even though he was a year younger) that Harry could possibly become friends with. He was always happy to make friends, but maybe that was because he had so few.

"Are they muggles?" Harry asked, curious.

"They are, I'm sure of that. So I advise that you don't talk about Hogwarts or that you have a snake that can turn into a human and vice versa, all right?"

"Okay," Harry agreed. "I can do that."

-

"The Coffee Cup," Harry read out loud as he walked in between Snape and Nathaniel. "Hmm. Nice name. Do they serve good coffee?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm not too struck on coffee," Snape replied, then noticed something that made him groan. "Remember what I said, Harry. No magic talk."

"Huh?" Harry frowned, then noticed a woman, man and a boy come up to the three.

"Severus!" The woman said happily, smiling widely as the three approached Snape, Nathaniel and Harry. "It's so good to see you again. Who are these two handsome boys?" she smiled at Harry and Nathaniel.

"This is Harry," Snape said, though his calm voice sounded forced. "And this is Harry's friend… Nathaniel."

"Very pleased to meet you," the woman said with a nod. "My name's Jessica Jackson, this is my husband, Bill Jackson, and my son Alexander Jackson. My daughter's with her friends at the moment. Are you Severus's boy, Harry?"

"I'm adopted," Harry said, realizing that these were the people that Snape was talking about at breakfast. "It's nice to meet you too."

"I trust you'll be staying at Severus's place from now on?" Jessica asked, but without waiting for an answer, she continued on, this time talking to Snape. "That's excellent. Perhaps we could schedule a play date for Alexander and Harry?"

Then, glancing back at Bill and Alexander, she gave Snape, Harry and Nathaniel another smile. "We should be leaving, but we'll be looking forward to seeing you three again. Bye."

Harry watched the three head back to their home before looking up at Snape. "A play date?" he repeated, then looked at Nathaniel, who had an amused look on his face.

"They do have a bit of vitality," Snape said, continuing to walk forward. Harry and Nathaniel followed.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked as Nathaniel stopped and turned around to go back, then changed his mind and went forward again.

"I just wanted to take a look around," Nathaniel explained uneasily.

Harry looked confused as he glanced up at Snape. "I thought that was what we were doing. Taking a look around."

Nathaniel sighed, gently blowing a brown curl out of his eyes. "Yes… I know, but I have to take an important look around town. A very important one… by myself."

Harry never took his eyes off Nathaniel, and a worried look was sewn onto his face. He seemed very reluctant to say what he said next: "Well… I guess so. Just don't get lost. Come right back. Be careful."

"Yes, Mum," Nathaniel teased, but then realized how much saying that word hurt. He hadn't used it in such a long time, and it brought back memories—some he wanted, and some he didn't.

-

Nathaniel, as he walked with Snape and Harry, noticed a couple on the sidewalk, laughing and joking around. Had he ever laughed and joked with a girl? The question remained unanswered. Even if he did, which he didn't remember, where was she now? And an even more important question: what about his parents? Where were they? Nathaniel had never realized how many years had went by. Were his parents even alive?

Nathaniel knew that Snape and Harry should spend a bit of time alone with each other. A bit of a father/son bonding between the two would be good. So he'd start his search for his parents and a girl now, so he could give the two some bonding time.

When he told Harry of his 'look around town', he immediately noticed the worried, unsure look that had etched itself onto Harry's face. He was relieved when Harry had said yes, though he seemed a bit reluctant. As soon as his search for that day was over, he would most definitely tell Harry what was really going on.

Nathaniel started going forward, his eyes searching the scenes in front of him. The neighbourhood seemed so buoyant and full of life and color, which surprised Nathaniel that Snape would live here since this was the last place he expected Snape to live in.

He noticed a cute girl with short, brown hair and blue eyes on the sidewalk, and he was so tempted to go over and introduce himself to her, but then he noticed that she seemed to be with somebody else.

Since his search for his parents could take quite a bit of time, Nathaniel decided to find a girl that he could become friendly with, and then maybe with her, Harry and Snape's help he could find his parents and embrace them and do whatever happy families that were apart from some time did. It sounded like a good idea to Nathaniel, anyway.

As Nathaniel continued to walk on, his eyes roaming the streets, he wondered why he was even looking for a girl. Shouldn't his parents be first priority? But the idea of a girl being with him—possibly even loving her—seemed almost enticing. To experience love—maybe even for the first time, since he still wasn't sure if he had had a lover before or not.

Then, Nathaniel stopped in his tracks. His eyes remained straightforward. He had to go introduce himself to that girl that he had just spotted. Nathaniel sucked in a deep breath, let it out, then approached her.

-
A/N: Thanks!